Giuliana Rancic Will Have Double Mastectomy

E! News host recently underwent a double lumpectomy

By Sara Dover •Published December 5, 2011•Updated on December 5, 2011 at 9:59 am

E! News host Giuliana Rancic is going through a double mastectomy to overcome breast cancer, she announced on the "Today Show" Monday.

The red-carpet regular recently underwent a double lumpectomy in October, but doctors were unable to remove the entire tumor. Giuliana, 37, and her husband Bill said they had to choose between saving her life or risking it with radiation and years of medication.

"Bill said to me 'I just really need you around for the next 50 years, kid.'" Giuliana told NBC's Ann Curry (VIDEO below). "That's what he said. He said 'I don't care what you look like, I don't care about the physical portion of this, I just need you around for the next 50 years, so let's just get you healthy.'"

Giuliana said that when she first heard that mastectomy was an option, she said "absolutely not" because it would leave her "disfigured." But taking the more radical route would reduce the chances of her cancer returning to less than 1 percent. If she were to do another lumpectomy, radiation and two to five years of anti-estrogen therapy, the chances the tumor would come back were up to 40 percent.

Children were also a big part of the difficult decision. The entertainment hostess and her husband documented their struggle to have kids on the Style Network reality series, "Giuliana and Bill." Although her first in-vitro fertilization attempt ended in miscarriage, the couple is still determined to be parents.

The anti-estrogen treatment "basically puts me into early menopause," Giuliana said. "Then I would have to put off having a baby for several years, so that was something we took into account."

She looked radiant and healthy on camera, but Giuliana said things have been tough. "I still break down some nights, when it's quiet in bed," she said. But she thanked Bill, a former winner of reality show "The Apprentice," for helping her get through it all.

"Bill's been the world to me through this," she said. "it's just made us stronger."